Nessism

Metal work about 95% complete. Llewellyn XL Compact lugs w/Pacenti BB shelling using 31.75mm seat and top tube and 35mm down tube. Mutt tubing: Columbus Life Top, Seat, Chain stay tubes, Zona Down tube, Deda Zero Seat stays. Going to use a NOS Reynolds Ozuo Pro fork. I went with the Zona DT over Life because the butts are longer and I couldn't fit the lug fully on a Life DT. And the Deda stays are lighter than similar 16mm Columbus seat stays and I didn't want to go 17mm.

I struggled with the build; it's been a few years since my last and I forgot a lot. In the end the frame turned out straight and I didn't overheat anything so it should be good to go.

P1040123 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040125 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040126 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040127 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040128 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040130 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040131 by nessism, on Flickr

P1040133 by nessism, on Flickr

Andrew R Stewart 

I'd be happy with this as my own work. One quibble though, the post binder slot's bottom key hole could be evened out rather quickly. Andy

Nessism

Agree. I'll attend to that...and a few others that the blasting highlighted.

GrainBrain

Wow just went through some of your flckr, you make custom clubs as well? The frame looks great!

Nessism

Hah, the golf club work is child's play compared to building a frame. I've done some motorcycle restorations that have been quite involved though.

BigPoser

Looks great! Did you have sand blasted or soda blasted?

Nessism

The media is broken down glass bead. More like crushed glass at this point. The frame doesn't fit into my blast cabinet very well so I blasted with the lid open using a shield to knockdown the flyback.

unterhausen

I saw that Brian Chapman took the floor out of his blast cabinet. Has me wondering if one of the smaller cabinets would work okay for me. I have used the largest Harbor Freight cabinet with part of the frame sticking out the side door, but removing the floor might make it large enough.

Thanks for the pics, looks great

Andrew R Stewart 

Eric. When I was planning my blast cabinet purchase I talked with Mike at tacomacompany.com a fair amount. He makes cabinet up grades and had a lot of really good advice including dropping the screen floors to gain space. He confirmed that the common $150/200 Harbor Freight cabinets are a bit small for a full frame and that a 4"x2" one is a far better choice. Of course this size is not found in the cheap grades

Like many tools getting the small and cheap is one of the quicker ways to spend your $ twice. Andy

unterhausen

unfortunately, I have a space problem too

Chapman's blast cabinet was somewhat more upscale than the HF

squirtdad

Thanks for posting the pics. Wow. This is what make me think about trying to build a frame..... for now I will build vicariously via this forum

Nessism

I drilled and tapped the BB shell for a screw to hold a plastic Shimano cable guide but the shell is so thin there is only about three threads. It's a Pacenti shell as mentioned earlier and he took out as much metal as possible it seems to keep the shell light. Should I go back and braze a washer on the inside of the shell to give more thickness for the screw threads or do you guys think three threads would be enough? I don't want to use noodle tubes unless I have too but I suppose that's a possibility.

Andrew R Stewart 

Since the plastic cable guide is under compressive forces (from the cables) the big deal is to keep it from migrating around the shell. The few threads of the bolt should do this quite well. You could also use double sided tape and the bolt if you like suspenders with your belted pants. Andy

wsteve464

You could always put a nut on the inside of the BB if it comes loose.